Michael Ryan
Drums, Percussion
There was a time when the flickering of
lights meant Mike Ryan had to put away the drum set for the night. He
was just a boy of 7 then, and the strobe-light signal was Ryan’s
parents’ way or letting him know they’d heard enough
But Ryan, who was then taking private drum lessons from local jazz pro Dave Zimnicki of the Yellow Jackets, could have drummed all night.
These days, he does, as drummer and percussionist with The Highland Rovers Band™. Signed on in 2002 following the departure of original Rover drummer Jon Ciottone, Ryan’s versatile background in music is “colorful’: from the blues, to white-hot jazz, to Army green.
That’s right. Few Rovers fans would
guess that Ryan’s expertise in percussion was largely a product of his
time spent serving in the U.S. Army National Guard. Ryan joined the
Guard while still a student at the University of Connecticut. After boot
camp, he was stationed briefly at Fort Dix with the 9th Army
Band doing parade assignments. He returned to college and spent the
remainder of his time in the army (a total of eight years) with the 102nd
Army Band. With the 102, Ryan performed concerts, parades and an
occasional jazz gig at the governor’s mansion. The experience even took
him to Iceland in a C-19 cargo plane to perform for President Reagan
during summit talks with Russian President Gorbachev. “Overall, I look
back with good memories of having done my duty and played my drums,”
Ryan says.
As if performing for heads of state weren’t enough to build his drumming resume, Ryan beefed up his experience after college when he moved to Tennessee for several years. He played in various jazz and blues bands, including a fusion band called “Free Fourmula,” which challenged Ryan to step up his drumming for an intense array of music. With Free Fourmula, Ryan played high-profile shows at festivals and began making musical contacts throughout the Tennessee-Georgia-Virginia region.
Next, he signed on with RC & The Boogeymen, (later known simply as The Boogeymen) and cut four CDs as the band acquired a reputation as a monster jam band. With the Boogeymen, Ryan performed in opening acts for .38 Special, Blackfoot, Delbert McClinton and a number of other well-known musical groups. “I was filling in with other jazz acts and was playing about 150 shows a year,” Ryan recalls. One show was with jazz legend Donald Brown, from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Ryan’s repertoire continued to grow.
By 1999, Ryan was married with a
2-year-old daughter. The family moved back to Connecticut, and
Ryan
thought he would take a break from his musical career. But wife Claudia
thought otherwise. “She knew my deepest, darkest secret: I was addicted
to applause,” Ryan says.
Responding to an ad in the New Haven Advocate brought Ryan to a new phase in his career: Irish music. He joined the Reilly Clan, and the band performed opening acts for well-known Irish bands like Black 47, The Prodigals, and The Clancy Brothers.
That exposure gave Ryan an introduction to The Highland Rovers Band™ after the Rovers and the Reilly Clan played a show together in 2001. Ryan began filling in occasionally on the drums for the Rovers. When then-drummer Jon Ciottone announced he was stepping down after the band’s Heart & Soul tour, Ryan officially joined the HRB. For Ryan, the pivotal moment came after opening for The Saw Doctors in front of a crowd of 27,000 in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
“That show is on my Top-3 all-time favorite gigs ever! It was absolutely incredible! The vibe of the band was just dead-on, the day was a spectacular summer day, the sun was setting, the crowd was incredibly enthusiastic and appreciative, and we ripped a phenomenal set that day,” Ryan recalls.
For the spotlight-adoring Ryan, the choice was clear: he was a Highland Rover.